music lessons | ADHD Information

I say give it a shot if you have any extra time perhaps on Saturday ...she might just suprise youand  have the same gift for music that you have.  When you tried the adderall did you use the xr or the short acting?  If you only used the short acting then you may want to give adderall xr a try. 

I enjoyed band in school and wanted my son to have the opportunity to try it.  Our elementary school starts recorder lessons in 3rd & 4th grade so that students can start learning how to read music.

Once they go to 5th grade in middle school, we can rent an instrument on a 3-month trial period.  My son decided to do trumpet as his aunt and both grandfathers played trumpet.  After a bumpy start and almost quitting, the teacher started to praise him for his good work and asked him to solo in their first concert.  Since then, he's practiced some without even being reminded, and doesn't complain when we remind him to practice.  He's doing so well and we're awfully proud of him.  He IS able to focus on the music and concentrate on his lessons.

Give your child a try.  Does your school music teacher offer any lessons after school that your child could start off with ?  That would be a great resource to start with.

Good luck !

my husband does not believe that our 9 year old dd with adhd will have a big enough attention span for music lessons.  i think he believes this to be true because sometimes when we try to teach her something new she refuses to listen to what we are trying to teach her...like saying "i know, i know"...when she truly doesn't know.  it seems to happen whether we are trying to teach her a board game, how to swing a golf club, or how to do a hard division problem.  she just doesn't want to accept/take helpful suggestions. 

i don't want to set her up for something that she won't be able to do, nor do i want another "power struggle" with her over practicing. but, at the same time...i feel bad that we don't feel she can do what other kids her age are doing, make sense? 

it just seems like homework, dance and gymnastics are enough for her...

music was my thing when i was growing up...i also hate for her to miss out on trying that avenue if it would be something she would enjoy. 

okay, i've babbled.  i didn't have adhd as a child... i'm feeling sad tonight for my child who won't possibly be able to *do* many of the things that other kids are able to do.  again, she's on 5 mg of ritalin at 8 am and noon...i keep hoping that we still start to see a big change in attention from her.  she did show greater attention on adderal, but then we had all the icky side effects with that drug.  i love that she isn't having stomach aches and she's sleeping on this med...but i'm thinking that it needs to be upped at our next doctor visit. 

shelley

I'd wait a year before pushing the idea.  My son was going on 11 before we started him in band (6th grade).  He also seems to do much better when someone else (not us) is teaching him.

Try to resist the temptation to push on your daughter what you did as a kid.  My dh did that with baseball and ds was miserable.  Let her pick what she wants to do.  Present her with possibilities, by all means, but let her pick.  You probably will also see a bit of maturing in the next year or two.  My ds did that at the same age and the difference was amazing.

 my dd is stating that she wants to do music lessons...her own words tonight!  i also am aware that IF your child wants to play certain instruments in our school band that they need to have had a least ONE or more years of piano type lessons first.  they choose their instruments this spring...eeeccckkkkk! 

i hear you advice and i respect that.  i truly do!!!!! thank you:)  

however, my daughter is in her 6th year of dance lessons and she would have quit after the first one if i would have let her:) :) :) :)  now, she enjoys it...and she's *okay* at it...she's not the best in her class, but she's far from the worst too:) :) :)

i hope we will see some maturity in the next year...that would be great:)  my dd might do a lot better from someone else teacher her...maybe i'm not giving her enough credit:) :) :) 

 

hugs,

shelley